Remembrance and Repentance

Some years ago a Maryknoll missionary left a pair of shoes at a shoe repair shop in his hometown in Ohio. In his preparations for departure for his mission in Peru, he forgot to pick them up. Three years later, he was home again and went to the shop, with repair tag in hand, to claim his shoes. The shoemaker found them on a back shelf, covered with dust. “Thanks for keeping them,” the missionary said, “how much do I owe you?” The shoemaker replied, “Well, they won’t be ready until next week!”

Sometimes I think that’s how we deal with Christ’s call to repent and reform. We’re always intending to do it, but we’re always going to be ready “next” week. We put it off, assuming that the Divine gardener will be patient forever. And God is patient with us! God has given us another whole year since last Lent! Have we borne good fruit? How many years do we think we have left to do God’s will?

When will we come to the last year that the gardener will give us before our life comes to an end? We don’t really know, do we? So we ought to heed the call of Jesus today. “But I tell you this, you will all come to the same end unless you begin to reform.” I think that line gives us a bit of hope too. “Unless you begin to reform,” Jesus says.

When we look at the totality of our lives, we can be overwhelmed by the need for reform. How many different areas can we each name where we need to change if we are to be truly like Christ? We probably cannot deal with it all at once. But we must at least begin! We must at least begin to reform, right here and right now, not next week, because next week has an uncanny way of turning into three years and a week!

And so, this weekend’s readings call us to examine the fruit of our lives. Are they barren, or do they radiate the glory of the Lord? This Third Sunday of Lent calls us to remembrance and repentance because the Lord is indeed kind and merciful to all who walk in his ways!